Top Best Ways To Cut Employee Stress And Boost Productivity

Employee stress is a problem. For every employee. At every company. Stress naturally occurs in the workplace. When left unchecked, it can wreak havoc on employee health and productivity.

In fact, stress has been associated with physical problems like a weakened immune system, stomach aches, high blood pressure, hair loss and headaches. It can also cause problems with concentration and teamwork, and ultimately productivity.

So what can you do? How can you fight stress at work and avoid all those negative consequences? By addressing the problem head on. Reduce the impact of stress in your office with any of these workplace stress busters.

Flexible Scheduling

Two huge sources of workplace stress are work-life balance and a lack of control over daily tasks. Allowing employees to set their own schedules addressed both of those common stressors. When employees choose their schedules, they’ll set a schedule that works with their lives at home. Dropping kids of at 8 a.m.? Work day starts at 8:15. No problem.

Clear Communication

Your employees should be able to solely focus on the job you’ve hired them to do. They shouldn’t have to allocate any time or effort to deciphering the messages they receive from management. It’s important that the communication coming from leadership teams is clear. Whether it’s meetings, emails or memos. Expectations need to be defined and questions need to be answered.

Unplugged Afternoons

A lot of stress is caused by the constant nature of the digital communication channels we use. Even when attempting to focus on one project, employees can be bombarded with notifications from a million different digital platforms. Consider making one afternoon each week an “unplugged afternoon.” Encourage employees to silence phones, sign out of email and shut down messaging systems. Allow them a quiet afternoon to tackle their work with no distractions.

Inspirational Quotes

Hearing or reading just the right inspirational quote at just the right time can quickly turn your day around. It can help you fight the stress by giving you a new, positive mindset. If you’re wary of plastering your office walls with Pinterest quotes, that’s okay. There are more subtle ways to go. For example, you can put a quote in each employee newsletter you send out. Or maybe post a “Quote of the Week” on the bulletin board in the breakroom.

Meaningful Meetings

There’s nothing more stressful than wasted time. Any meeting whose contents can be addressed in an email should be canceled. At all costs, avoid meeting with your employees “just to meet.” If you’re doing your job right, they have much better things to do with their time. So let them. If a meeting isn’t necessary, and you can clearly portray the message with another form of communication, don’t drag your employees to the conference room.